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BP invests in WasteFuel on WtE ambitions: British oil and gas company BP invested USD 10 mn in WasteFuel’s series B funding round in a bid to help the US-based biofuel company establish its first waste-to-energy (WtE) production facility in Dubai, according to a statement released on Thursday. BP also signed an agreement to offtake the bio-methanol that WasteFuel would generate as part of its targets to decarbonize shipping and produce c.100k barrels of the green fuel per day by 2030.
We had a clue this was in the works: WasteFuel inked an agreement with UAE-based waste management company Averda last November to set up a commercial-scale biofuels production facility in MENA, agreeing to source the non-recyclable waste it would use to generate low-carbon fuels from Averda. At the time, the plant’s location was not determined, but was expected to be located in the UAE’s Jebel Ali.
And they have big plans: The company plans to develop multiple bio-methanol plants globally by setting up local strategic partnerships including waste companies, the statement notes.
About WasteFuel: Founded in 2018, the company has raised USD 28.7 mn to date over three funding rounds, according to Crunchbase. The startup’s WtE generation tech involves the treatment and conversion of agricultural and municipal waste into biomethanol and other green fuels that would “achieve up to 90% reductions in CO2 emissions and other greenhouse gasses and pollutants compared to conventional fuels,” it noted last week. Its new agreement with BP will see them partner on upscaling bio-methanol production tech, the statement notes.
Maersk and NetJets are backing the company: In 2021, the world’s largest private jet company NetJets and Danish shipping firm Maersk invested undisclosed sums in the US startup to help scale up the company’s operations in Asia and the Americas. WasteFuel plans to kickoff operations on its planned biorefinery in the Philippines by 2025, and has plans to develop others in emerging countries in coming years, NetJets notes.
